FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BY COMBINING PRINT AND DIGITAL VERSIONS, SD TIMES MAKES
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Software-development newspaper represents BPA
International's first audit of a combined print and digital distribution
publication
Oyster Bay, N.Y., January 14, 2002 - With
the launch of SD Times in February 2000, BZ Media LLC claimed to be
combining the best of "ink-on-paper" journalism with the latest
Internet technologies. The newly completed audit of SD Times' circulation
demonstrates that BZ Media has made history by creating a publication
whose print and electronic versions are considered identical - even to BPA
International's exacting standards.
The electronic version of SD Times is delivered via e-mail as a Portable
Document Format (PDF) attachment viewable in Adobe Acrobat. The digital
version is identical to the tabloid-sized print version, and shares its
twice-monthly frequency. It is viewed page by page, complete with
advertising, in a manner reminiscent of reading a print magazine. BPA's
thorough analysis of the digital version, for the three months ending
October 2001, was based on registered circulation figures using both
postal records and e-mail logs created by an independent third-party
e-mail service provider.
"Our overriding objective , as always, was the fair and accurate
dissemination of data," said Diza Burnett, BPA's vice president of
audit operations. "We provide the raw information, full disclosure.
The media buying community decides the importance and applicability of it
all." BPA (www.bpai.com) is a not-for-profit organization governed by
media owners, advertisers, and advertising agencies, covering more than
2,600 media properties and 2,800 media buyers in over 20 countries.
Readers also find the digital version of SD Times to be appealing.
According to the audit, 20.8% of domestic subscribers opted to receive the
digital version via e-mail instead of receiving a printed version in their
mailbox or viewing the newspaper's content on the Web. "The digital
version isn't a Web site. It's not an e-mail newsletter or a
'made-for-the-Web' adaptation of the printed newspaper," stressed Ted
Bahr, president of BZ Media and publisher of SD Times. "It is
the print product, in identical digital form."
During the three-month audit period, SD Times' average total qualified
circulation was 40,464. As per its usual audit practice, BPA subjected one
issue of the publication to special scrutiny, and reported that the August
15, 2001 issue had a total qualified U.S. and international circulation of
43,801, of which 28,246 (64.5%) chose to receive SD Times in printed form,
10,585 (24.2%) selected the digital version, and 4,969 (11.3%) requested
to receive both the printed and digital versions. These figures exceed SD
Times' promised rate base of 40,000.
For the first half of 2002, BZ Media has promised an increased rate
base of 45,000 average circulation. "This will make SD Times -
already one of the most efficient means of reaching this highly
influential group of buyers - even more attractive to marketers,"
said Bahr. "It's hard to imagine a better marketing vehicle for
today's tough economic climate than SD Times."
